Advances in Radar technology

[Jeanie P]

Captain's Choice is selling a Ratheon RL70 display unit, new in original box. Great price but I had to pass on the deal because of other considerations.

After sleeping on this last night or not sleeping (I hate to pass on a good deal) several questions came to mind.

One question is, although this unit is several years old and has been discontinued, does the technology improve so much , so quick,that newer stuff might not be compatable? I thought maybe buy it now and get antennae later when timings right.

My original thoughts were to combine this display with a new radomme of same make. Didn't need any chartmaking capability, just a stand alone radar.

I am electronically challenged to the point my kids call me "pathetic" so making anything more complicated than simple connections is out of the question.

Allan

[lloyds]

Nice to know I am not the only technology challenged one on the site.

[Captains Cat]

I really don't need to move this unit but allow me to respond! I did buy a new radome off of E-Bay and used it with this unit. Actually bought two displays, one RL-70C (that had the chart capability) and this RL-70 without it. I had a new Raymarine 2KW Dome, they also make a 4KW one. Both displays worked fine, I had a chip for the RL70C but the B&W charts just didn't compare with the color Garmin ones so it was just backup. The radar went with Captain's Choice when it sold last month.

I am certain that the current RayMarine Radomes will work with it.

Charlie

[SEA3PO]

I would check that.... I had a problem with my SL70 Color Radar unit and complained to West Marine.... they tried to cure the problem by replacing the gps unit....it didn't work.... So they replaced the entire radar unit with the current model Radar...the C80 system.... they had to replace the dome also because the dome that was for the SL70 was analog and the unit for the C80 is a digital unit.

Joel
SEA3PO

[Captains Cat]

Concur Joel, thanks. That info was about two years old when I bought the units.

Charlie

[starcrafttom]

side not but kind of on topic or new technlogy. I was just watching the news and saw video of the cops looking for a body of a women in a lake/pond. they were using a hummingbird sside scan sonar unit that you can buy off the self or online for under a grand. this is great, 10 years ago they would have had to hire someone with $20k in equipment and speacial boat. i love the way technology is going an how it can be used for the greater good. this allows a local department to have a far greater resource than they did just a few short years ago.

[Jeanie P]

Charlie
I apologize if I may have overstepped when including you in this topic.
I didn't mean to imply that you needed to move the item, only that it helped me describe my question . I should have kept it generic .
Sorry

Allan

[thataway]

Although this does not relate directly to the first post, there are some really true advances in Radar (and fish finders) in the last few months.

The HD radar of both Ray Marine and Furuno are a huge leap foreward--and I expect to see other manufacturers follow suit. These are basically digital technology and the resolution and defination is far superior to anything in the same size that was present in the past.

My experience is that many of the radar domes/displays are type specific--and cannot be combined. Much of this is the software programs which run in modern radars. The older cathode tube radar, then the Raster scan, LCD, and now digital radars are each steps foreward.

There is a specific group for the hummingbird side scan. It is not quite where I would like to see the phased arrays, but certainly a step in the right direction--and I suspect that in the next year or so we will see some really good foreward looking sonars, which do not rely on the rotating transducer, such as the high end Furuno or Westmar.